The present invention relates generally to systems enabling access to context specific information and, in particular, to a system for constructing context sensitive information access artifacts. The invention has been developed primarily for access to context specific information and will be described hereinafter with reference to these and related applications. However, it will be appreciated, particularly in view of the large number of alternative examples given, that the invention is not limited to these fields of use.
Various means are known for customizing the delivery of content information based on physical location. For example, in the field of Internet content delivery, there are Web servers which can deliver different content, based on metadata that is sent from the Web browser. The MICROSOFT(trademark) owned HOTMAIL(trademark) Web mail service decides, based on an Internet Protocol (IP) address ending in .au, that a user resides in Australia and consequently presents advertising links to xe2x80x98MICROSOFT NETWORK (MSN) AUSTRALIA(trademark)xe2x80x99. However, using an IP address to predict physical location is inaccurate since some companies with offices in Australia have IP addresses that end in .com.
Other known means for delivering content information based on physical location utilise Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. For example, some computers are fitted with a GPS transmitter, which relays the position of the computer to a computer network via a GPS satellite. However, GPS systems are only accurate in the range of hundreds of meters in the case of Absolute GPS, or tens of meters in the case of Differential GPS. These inaccuracies are not sufficient for computer applications where different rooms of the same building may require a computer application to use different context information.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a context sensitive device comprising:
a card portion having a surface onto which are formed a plurality of user interpretable icons; and
electronic apparatus attached to said card portion, said apparatus comprising:
a memory in which are retained at least a plurality of character strings including contextual information, each of said character strings being associated with a corresponding one of said icons;
processor means coupled to said memory means; and
communication means for coupling said processor means to a reading device configured to facilitate reading said context sensitive device,
wherein said processor means is configured to relate reading signals generated from a user selection of at least one of said icons and received via said communication means with at least one of said retained character strings to thus transmit an output signal for indicating a desired service based on said contextual information.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of using a context sensitive device to enable performance of a desired service, said context sensitive device comprising:
a card portion having a surface onto which are formed a plurality of user interpretable icons; and
electronic apparatus attached to said card portion, said apparatus comprising:
a memory in which are retained at least a plurality of character strings including contextual information, each of said character strings being associated with a corresponding one of said icons;
processor means coupled to said memory means; and
communication means for coupling said processor means to a reading device configured to facilitate reading said context sensitive device;
said method comprising the steps of:
(a) relating reading signals generated from a user selection of at least one of said icons and received via said communication means with at least one of said retained character strings including a portion of said contextual information;
(b) transmitting an output signal including said at least one retained character string, wherein said output signal indicates said desired service;
(c) comparing said portion of contextual information to an actual portion of contextual information; and enabling said performance of said desired service based on said comparison.
According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a context sensitive device comprising:
a card portion and an electronic apparatus attached to said card portion, said apparatus comprising:
a memory in which are retained at least a plurality of character strings including contextual information;
processor means coupled to said memory means; and
communication means for coupling said processor means to a reading device configured to facilitate reading said context sensitive device,
wherein said processor means is configured to transmit an output signal including a portion of said contextual information, for indicating a desired service based on said contextual information.
According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a context sensitive device comprising:
a card portion having a surface onto which are formed a plurality of user interpretable icons;
a memory in which are retained at least a plurality of character strings including contextual information, each of said character strings being associated with a corresponding one of said icons; and
communication means for coupling said memory to a processor means of a reading device configured to facilitate reading said context sensitive device,
wherein said processor means is configured to relate reading signals generated from a user selection of at least one of said icons and received via said communication means with at least one of said retained character strings to thus transmit an output signal for indicating a desired service based on said contextual information.
According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a context sensitive service provision system comprising:
a control template, adapted for insertion into a template reader, the template (i) having at least one user selectable control icon, and (ii) storing a character string associated with said at least one icon, said character string incorporating icon contextual information;
said reader, being responsive to a user selection of said at least one control icon of an inserted said control template, said reader being adapted to communicate a signal including said associated character string; and
a service provision device, responsive to a communicated said signal, and adapted to provide a service corresponding to the associated character string dependent upon the icon contextual information contained in said communicated signal.
According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a control template, adapted for insertion into a template reader for use in a context sensitive service provision system, the control template comprising:
at least one user selectable control icon; and
storage means for storing a character string associated with said at least one icon, said character string incorporating icon contextual information.
According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing a context sensitive service, the method comprising steps of:
inserting a control template into a template reader, the template (i) having at least one user selectable control icon, and (ii) storing a character string associated with said at least one icon, said character string incorporating icon contextual information;
selecting, by a user, said at least one control icon;
communicating, by said reader, in response to the user selection, a signal including said associated character string;
receiving, by a service provision device, of said communicated signal; and
providing, by the service provision device, a service corresponding to the associated character string dependent upon the icon contextual information contained in said communicated signal.
According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer readable medium for storing a program for a system providing context sensitive information; wherein a control template is inserted into a template reader, the template (i) having at least one user selectable control icon, and (ii) storing a character string associated with said at least one icon, said character string incorporating icon contextual information; and wherein said at least one control icon is selected by a user; said program comprising:
code for a communicating step, for communicating, by said reader, in response to the user selection, a signal including said associated character string;
code for a receiving step, for receiving, by a service provision device, of said communicated signal; and
code for a providing step, for providing, by the service provision device, a service corresponding to the associated character string dependent upon the icon contextual information contained in said communicated signal.
According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer readable medium for storing a program for using a context sensitive device to enable performance of a desired service; wherein said context sensitive device comprises:
(i) a card portion having a surface onto which are formed a plurality of user interpretable icons, and electronic apparatus attached to said card portion; said apparatus comprising:
(a) a memory in which are retained at least a plurality of character strings including contextual information, each of said character strings being associated with a corresponding one of said icons;
(b) processor means coupled to said memory means; and
(c) communication means for coupling said processor means to a reading device configured to facilitate reading said context sensitive device;
said program comprising:
(a) code for a relating step for relating reading signals generated from a user selection of at least one of said icons and received via said communication means with at least one of said retained character strings including a portion of said contextual information;
(b) code for a transmitting step for transmitting an output signal including said at least one retained character string, wherein said output signal indicates said desired service;
(c) code for a comparing step for comparing said portion of contextual information to an actual portion of contextual information; and
(d) code for an enabling step for enabling said performance of said desired service based on said comparison.